The Image Collections and Fieldwork Archives (ICFA) hold unique footage of the Dumbarton Oaks Gardens. While most of the footage dates to the 1930s and 1940s, some scenes may have been recorded as early as the mid-1920s. Shot in both black and white and in color, the film contains garden views, winter scenes, and summer scenes at the pool, as well as glimpses of Mildred Barnes Bliss and her friends at the Orangery and in the gardens.

The Dumbarton Oaks Gardens film was re-discovered in early 2011 when ICFA staff learned that three film reels in cold storage contained footage of the Dumbarton Oaks Gardens. Films were sent to Colorlab for preservation and digitization in October of 2011, and the project was completed in March of 2012. Currently, all of the original films are safely stored in one of the freezers in ICFA’s cold storage area.

As part of the DO/Conversations series, on July 20, 2012 Archives Specialist Rona Razon described the “re-discovery” of the Dumbarton Oaks Gardens film and the process of preserving it. Rona’s introduction was followed by a screening of the film with live commentary by James Carder, Archivist and House Collection Manager, and Gail Griffin, Director of Gardens and Grounds.

The presentation, including the film in its entirety, can now be seen online through Vimeo: Part I , Part II , and Part III

In 1944, as the end of World War II approached, an important series of talks was held to plan the formation of postwar international institutions. The site for the conversations was Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., a research institute administered by Harvard University. In a spirit of optimism, Secretary of State Cordell Hull said that the purpose was "to create the institutional foundations for a just and enduring peace," while Soviet ambassador Andrei Gromyko spoke of an international organization that would "guarantee for the peoples peace, security, and prosperity in the future." The meetings, which included debates on a variety of issues, were a first step toward the creation of the United Nations. In 1994, the "Dumbarton Oaks Conference, 1944–1994" brought together scholars and policymakers who have been involved with the study of international organizations or have played important roles in them. The conference papers in this volume examine both the formation of the United Nations and a number of current issues, including human rights, collective economic sanctions, peacekeeping operations, and the evolution of the role of the secretary-general.